Mary Mack facts for kids

Melody

"Mary Mack" (also called "Miss Mary Mack") is a super popular clapping game that kids play in many English-speaking places. You might have played it in the United States, Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, or New Zealand. Some people even call it the most common hand-clapping game in the world!

This game was first written down in a book called The Counting Out Rhymes of Children by Henry Carrington Bolton in 1888. The version he found was from West Chester, Pennsylvania.

To play, two children stand or sit facing each other. They clap their hands together in a special way while singing a rhyming song. Sometimes, the same song is also used for jumprope games, but that's not as common.

The "Mary Mack" Rhyme

There are different versions of the "Mary Mack" song, but here's a very common one:

Miss Mary Mack, Mack, Mack

All dressed in black, black, black

With silver buttons, buttons, buttons

All down her back, back, back.

She asked her mother, mother, mother

For 50 cents, cents, cents

To see the elephants, elephants, elephants

Who jumped the fence, fence, fence

They jumped so high, high, high

they reached the sky, sky, sky

And didn't come back, back, back

Till the 4th of July ly ly.

She asked her mother, mother, mother

For 50 cents more, more, more

To see the elephants, elephants, elephants

They hit the floor floor floor

They jumped to the flow flow flow

they stubbed their toe toe toe

and that was the end end end

of the elephant show show show.

Other Rhyme Versions

Some other versions of the rhyme exist. For example, in Canada, kids might sing:

She could not read, read, read

She could not write, write, write

But she could smoke, smoke, smoke

Her father’s pipe, pipe, pipe.

In the American South, another version goes:

Mary Mack,

dressed in black,

silver buttons all down her back.

She combed her hair

and broke the comb

She's gonna get a whoopin' when her Momma comes home

Gonna get a whoopin' when her Momma comes home

How to Clap Along

The clapping actions usually go with the rhythm of the song. Here's a common way to clap while you sing "Mary Mack":

• First, pat your arms across your chest.
• Next, pat your thighs.
• Then, clap your own hands together.
• After that, clap your right hand with your partner's right hand.
• Then, clap your left hand with your partner's left hand.
• Finally, clap both of your hands together with both of your partner's hands.

You repeat these steps as you sing the rhyme!

Another Way to Clap

Here's another way to do the clapping, often used in different places:

• Start by patting your thighs.
• Then, clap your own hands together.
• Next, clap your right hand with your partner's right hand.
• Clap your own hands again.
• Then, clap your left hand with your partner's left hand.
• Clap your own hands again.
• Finally, clap both of your hands together with both of your partner's hands.
• Clap your own hands one more time.

You keep repeating these actions throughout the song.

Where Did "Mary Mack" Come From?

The exact start of the "Mary Mack" rhyme is a bit of a mystery! People have come up with different ideas about where the name and the song came from.

The Riddle Connection

Some people think the first part of the rhyme, with its repeating words, might be a riddle. The answer to this riddle is often thought to be a "coffin." This is because a coffin is usually black and might have shiny metal parts, like "silver buttons," and it's where someone's back would be.

The Merrimack Ship Theory

One interesting idea is that "Mary Mack" might have originally been about a ship called the USS Merrimack. This was a United States warship from the mid-1800s. The ship was named after the Merrimack River. It was known for being black with shiny metal rivets, which could be like the "silver buttons" mentioned in the song. This theory suggests that the first verse might even be connected to a famous sea battle during the American Civil War called the Battle of Hampton Roads.